Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, plans to gain fresh growth with the Nov 1 announcement of the Zijingang Science and Technology City construction project.

The new city joins similar projects - Future Science City, Qingshan Lake Science and Technology City and Chengxi Sci-tech Innovation Corridor - to help bring innovation and development to the region.

Zijingang Sci-tech City, located in the west of Zhejiang University's Zijingang Campus with a planned area of 9 square kilometers, will comprise West Lake Sci-tech Park, Zijin Town and Yungu Town.

Construction of West Lake Sci-tech Park started in August 2001 and is nearing completion. The park already houses more than 1,600 enterprises.

Scheduled for completion in 2019, Zijin town covers 3.96 sq km and is a cooperative project of Zhejiang University and Hangzhou Xihu district government that focuses on developing information technology and smart manufacturing.

Yungu town is to occupy 5 square kilometers, and concentrate on cloud computing and big data sectors. The project will be completed by the end of 2020.

"Zijingang Sci-tech City aims to boost output and propel industrial and city modernization by attracting big projects and key companies," said Yu Jianjun, director of the sci-tech city's construction office.

The project will consider artificial intelligence (smart manufacturing), information technology, life science, sci-tech services, cloud computing and big data as future priority industries, with Zhejiang University and Westlake Institute for Advanced Study offering strong talent support.

By 2020, the city is expected to have attracted 400 high-tech companies, 45 science research institutes (including company research institutes), as well as 110,000 workers. Fixed-asset investment is predicted to top 4 billion yuan ($603 million), while the main business income of distinctive industries will top 4.5 billion yuan, and annual tax revenue will surpass 450 million yuan. More than 70 percent of the park will be occupied by unique industries.